Donovan Lamar Haynes, 23, was sentenced in Flint, Michigan on Monday after pleading no contest to second-degree murder for the 2011 killing of Ti’Airra Woodward. A pre-sentence investigation report claimed Haynes had beat the girl to turn her gay in hope that she would avoid men like him, who had a history of treating women poorly, Mlive reported.

‘This case is a case that defies reason, logic, common sense,’ Hatchett added. ‘[It’s a] tragedy to see the life of an innocent child snuffed out for no reason at all.’

The attorney added that Haynes needs to undergo psychological counseling while in prison. Haynes bit and beat Ti’Airra in July 2011 and she was found unresponsive in the basement of Haynes’ mother’s Flint Township home.
The little girl was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead at Hurley Medical Center. Authorities initially said that it appeared she had died from a blunt force trauma to the abdomen and the medical examiner’s report said the toddler died of internal bleeding from a lacerated liver.

After her death, Flint Police Chief George Sippert said she was the youngest homicide victim he could remember in 25 years with the department.

by Sir John Hawkins

John Hawkins's book 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know is filled with lessons that newly minted adults need in order to get the most out of life. Gleaned from a lifetime of trial, error, and writing it down, Hawkins provides advice everyone can benefit from in short, digestible chapters.